Just purchased a great new 4K TV ( Vizio P75-c1) amd i need a cheaper receiver with all of the above for around the $500 mark. Didnt want to spend too much because its coming out of my home theater funds which i am in the process of putting together downstairs.
I was looking at the Denon AVR-X2300W.
If anyone has any other recommendations please let me know!

Best?
You won't get the Denon menu GUI overlay in 4k with the X2300, only the 3300 and up, and folks have been put off by that. Have you looked at the Yamaha TSR-7810 from Costco thread here? Gotta be a member, but it's <500, and is SUPPOSEDLY the exact same AVR as the RV781 sold elsewhere for 799.
It's a 7 Channel AVR, pretty sure GUI over 4k, but ya should double check.
You could also contact
@jdsmoothie
here and see what he can do for ya on the Denon X3300 if GUI over 4k is important to you. AVS is an authorized retailer, and price/ service are very good.

Why waste $ on more cheap stuff, it's like challenging a dragon with a pocket knife.

Just purchased the Denon s720W myself... similar to the 2300W. Works great for 4k/HDR and is only $300. A bit less power than the 2300 and fewer inputs but otherwise pretty much the same. Yeah, the non-4k GUI is a bit klunky looking but it didn't even occur to me to care. And it sure wouldn't have been worth it to me to spend more for that. Of course YMMV!

Best?
You won't get the Denon menu GUI overlay in 4k with the X2300, only the 3300 and up, and folks have been put off by that. Have you looked at the Yamaha TSR-7810 from Costco thread here? Gotta be a member, but it's <500, and is SUPPOSEDLY the exact same AVR as the RV781 sold elsewhere for 799.
It's a 7 Channel AVR, pretty sure GUI over 4k, but ya should double check.
You could also contact
@jdsmoothie
here and see what he can do for ya on the Denon X3300 if GUI over 4k is important to you. AVS is an authorized retailer, and price/ service are very good.

The TSR-7810 has been missing from Costco.com for a while now. (Not sure exactly when it disappeared.) The TSR-5810 (= RX-V581) was gone too when I checked just now.

If you're willing to consider factory refurbs, try accessories4less. Try the 'HDCP 2.2' filter. I'm not sure that'd weed out the models that can't do 4k/HDR passthrough, but it's a start. Also note that some of the 2015 models that support HDCP 2.2 may only support it on a single HDMI input.

The Yamaha RX-V381 is a 2016 model. If you don't need WiFi, A4L has it for $200US.

Just purchased the Denon s720W myself... similar to the 2300W. Works great for 4k/HDR and is only $300. A bit less power than the 2300 and fewer inputs but otherwise pretty much the same. Yeah, the non-4k GUI is a bit klunky looking but it didn't even occur to me to care. And it sure wouldn't have been worth it to me to spend more for that. Of course YMMV!

The upgrade to the S720W is the X1300W, with the X2300W having more features, inputs, outputs, and uses the better version of Audyssey MultEQ XT.